


Lovers' Quarrel

by Cyn_xo



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Daryl did a thing he shouldn't have, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Paul's a little shit sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 12:03:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13570218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyn_xo/pseuds/Cyn_xo
Summary: Daryl did something he shouldn't have done, and hurt Paul in the process. Can he do damage control quick enough and have Paul forgive him, or will things change between them?





	Lovers' Quarrel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LiveLongAndLove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLongAndLove/gifts).



> Here is my contribution to the Desus Valentine's Day 2k18 for LiveLongAndLove! I hope you enjoy! (:

Paul stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips, grabbing his toothbrush. He brushed his teeth and rinsed with a bit of mouthwash before he carefully started to comb out and blow dry his hair. He’d been invited by Daryl to accompany him to a Valentine’s Day party that their friend Maggie was throwing, and he wanted to make sure he looked good for his boyfriend.

 

He left the bathroom, moving over to his dresser to pick his clothes. Daryl should be home from work soon, and he’d need to get a shower himself. Paul slid on a pair of red boxer briefs, and then a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that hugged his legs and ass just right. He also opted for a pink t-shirt,before he pulled on a black cardigan over top. He laced his leather combat boots on, and threw his hair up into a messy bun.

 

He heard the front door open just as he was buttoning his cardigan up, and he came out of the bedroom to greet his lover at the door. “Hey baby.” He stole a quick kiss. “How was work?”

 

“Was okay. Missed ya, though.” The older man replied, stealing a kiss right back.

 

“I missed you too, Angel. Now go on and get a shower, I laid out some clothes for you.”

 

“Bet ya loved pickin’ my clothes out.” Daryl snickered, taking his work boots off before he walked down the hallway and disappeared into their room. Paul only ever chose what the man would wear for occasions like this; He knew the older man was hopeless with things like that, so he simply helped him out. Any other time Paul was content to see him in his worn jeans and shirts with the sleeves ripped off.

 

When Daryl came out Paul pocketed his phone and wallet, grabbing his car keys before he pulled on his coat. “C’mon baby. Maggie promised plenty of food there before the party starts.”

 

Daryl simply grunted in response and pulled on his coat, following the younger man out to the car. They drove in comfortable silence, Paul’s hand intertwined with Daryl’s on the hunter’s thigh. Everything came easy to them; the intimacy, talking, or simply being together. Daryl had never imagined it would be this good.

 

-

 

When they arrived, Daryl noted the pink, red and white decorations and the sounds of people talking. They hung their coats up and made their way out back into the yard where everyone was sitting. Glenn was manning the grill with Rick, and Tara was serving drinks at the bar with Rosita. Abe sat sitting with Sasha, a hand rubbing her very pregnant belly gently.

 

Michonne and Carl were playing with Judith and Gracie, while Aaron and Eric were lounging next to them, watching happily. Soon enough, everyone noticed them and waved or called out to them in greeting.

 

Everything was comfortable. Paul grabbing them drinks before everyone gathered at the large table to eat together. Jokes were shared, as were stories and people simply played catch up. With everybody’s hectic schedules it was hard to get everyone together in one place unless it was a holiday.

 

When they’d finished dinner and cleaned up, they moved the party inside where Tara and Maggie insisted on playing games. Michonne put Judith and Gracie to bed upstairs, leaving the baby monitor on just in case; though they were both heavy sleepers, thankfully. More drinks were poured, and Daryl watched while Paul played a drinking game with Tara. He looked so cute in his element, socializing with their friends.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl caught Rick heading out back. He found it odd the man would just up and walk out for a moment, so he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and instinctively followed, wanting to make sure he was okay. He found the man leaning on the railing, nursing a glass of whiskey in his hand.

 

“Rick. Ya okay?” the older man walked over and leaned on the railing beside him. The sheriff looked over at him, smiling just slightly.

 

“Just thinkin’ is all. Valentine’s Day wasn’t ever really somethin’ I celebrated; Lori hated it. Well, I thought she did. Turned out she just didn’t want gifts from __me__. She only wanted ‘em from Shane.” He snorted. “But Michonne likes it, and I think I do, too.”

 

“That’s good, Rick. Ya deserve ta be happy.”

 

“What about you? You happy with Paul?”

 

Daryl flushed slightly and nodded, taking a swig from the bottle. “Everything is…easy with him. We have our fights an’ everythin’, but we're quick ta make up. When we first got together I used ta run away from tha conflict but..Paul makes it easy ta stay and talk it out. I really like ‘im.”

 

“Sounds to me like you love him.”

 

“I do. But..I got somethin’ I wanna try. Just a lil test.” Daryl grinned, turning to face the slightly younger man. The whiskey was making his head swim, and his body feel warm; it was relaxing, but it was also messing with him.

 

“And what’s that, Daryl?” Rick grinned right back, chuckling when the redneck leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips.

 

-

 

Paul looked around, the vodka finally catching up with him. He didn’t see Daryl anywhere so he wandered around to look for him. He wanted the redneck’s hands on him right now. He wandered down the hall and towards the back door. He spotted Daryl and Rick through the glass, and he was about to slide it open to come out when he saw Daryl lean in and kiss the sheriff on the lips.

 

It felt like he’d been punched for a moment; the low ache in his gut and his chest. He felt his eyes involuntarily well up before he swiped the moisture away, feeling the sadness mixing in with anger. He knew the hunter had feelings for Rick once upon a time, but he’d assured him he was over them, that he was the only one for him.

 

“Only one for me my fucking ass.” Paul turned and walked back down the hallway to the kitchen, simply grabbing a bottle of vodka from the table, popping it open to take a large drink straight from it. It burned as it went down, but he couldn’t care less. He set the bottle down when he’d had his fill, not wanting to get too inebriated. But it certainly took the edge off of things.

 

He gathered Tara and Rosita up and took them upstairs to the guest room, needing to talk this out with somebody.

 

-

 

Daryl pulled away a few seconds later, and both of the men proceeded to burst into laughter. “Nope, no feelin’s left for ya, officer friendly.” Daryl grinned.

 

Rick snorted and smacked his shoulder, taking a drink from his cup. “Good. Michonne would fuckin’ kill me.”

 

“Pretty sure 'Chonne and Paul would team up and take us both out.” The hunter snickered, taking another swig from the bottle. “We should get back in there. C’mon.” He nudged rick’s shoulder and led him back into the house.

 

The first thing the archer noticed was that he couldn’t find Paul anywhere downstairs. He asked around, and nobody had seen where he went, all too caught up in drinking and board games. Just when he began to worry, he saw Paul come downstairs with the girls, looking less than happy.

 

He was confused enough by that, but it only worsened when Paul brushed right past him, and Tara shot him a sharp look. Rosita brushed past him with a quiet “ _ _Jodido de mierda__ ” as well. He looked to Rick, who looked just as confused as he was. He’d gotten the exact same treatment.

 

-

 

The hunter tried to talk to his boyfriend for the rest of the party, but he was either shrugged off or given short answers. By the time it came ready to leave, he wouldn’t even hold the older man’s hand on the ride home in the uber he'd ordered since neither of them could drive. When they got back to their house, he got out of the car and followed Paul inside, shutting the door behind them.

 

“Ya gonna tell me what’s eatin’ ya now that we’re home?” Daryl spoke up, hanging up his coat before kicking off his boots.

 

“You know what? I will.” Paul yanked his coat off and hung it up, kicking his own boots off before he turned on Daryl, jabbing his finger into his chest. “I saw you, with Rick out there. I saw you kiss him. You’re a fucking asshole. Do you know how __shitty__  that made me feel? Don’t forget that I know all about how you used to feel for him.”

 

Daryl snorted a laugh. “ _ _That’s__ what yer mad about? Was a quick peck, it didn’ mean shit, Paul. Ya know I love ya. C’mon, it’s Valentine’s Day...do ya really want to have a fight right now?”

 

“You know what? I do! It ‘Didn’t mean shit?’ I can’t even fathom how you even remotely think that’s fucking okay! How would you feel if I called up one of my exes to hang out and planted one on him?” Something else seemed to register and Paul scoffed. “And you weren’t even going to tell me.”

 

Daryl wanted to argue that it wasn’t the same; he and Rick weren’t exes, they’d never really had anything except for Daryl's one-sided crush. But it finally caught up to him that maybe that wasn’t a smart move on his own part. How it must have looked to his boyfriend..he shouldn’t even have done it in the first place.

 

“Paul..”

 

“No. Fuck you. You can sleep on the couch tonight. You’re not getting in my bed.” The younger man turned away and Daryl could have sworn he’d seen the shine of unshed tears in his eyes. He moved to touch his hand and Paul yanked it away, stalking into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

 

Daryl let out a deep sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face, moving into the livingroom to sit down on the couch. In hind sight, it hadn’t seemed like a big deal; just a quick peck to see if there were any feelings still there..but with his head clear now he could see what a stupid decision that was. He’d hurt his boyfriend, hell, he could hear him trying to keep his sobbing quiet in their room. He felt like an asshole.

 

-

 

Around eleven, he couldn’t take being this tense anymore. He got up and carefully made his way to the bedroom, cracking the door open. “Paul?”

 

“Pretty sure I told you you weren’t welcome in my bed tonight.” The younger man sniffled slightly, wiping at his face. “What do you want?”

 

“Ta say that ‘m sorry. I shouldn’ta done that. At tha time it didn’ seem like a big deal ta me..but now that my head’s cleared up, I see why it was stupid..”

 

“It was beyond stupid.”

 

“Look, I was drunk. I wasn’ thinkin’ straight. It lasted a few seconds, an’ then we laughed it off. An’ I was gonna tell ya, I swear I was.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Paul, I swear.” The older man walked over to the bed and sat down, feeling at least a vague sense of relief when Paul let him touch his shoulder. “I swear it didn’ mean anythin’. It was just a joke ta me, but I can see it ain’t ta ya. ‘M sorry. I really, really am. I love ya so damn much it’s killin’ me ta know that yer hurtin’ ‘cause of me.”

 

Paul didn’t speak for a few moments, he was too busy mulling over the man’s words. “You promise it didn’t mean anything?”

 

Daryl nodded. “I swear on my life it didn’ mean a damn thing.”

 

Paul nodded after a minute, wiping at his eyes. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

 

“I know, baby.” Daryl grinned, nudging his shoulder gently. “This mean ya forgive me?”

 

Paul rolled his eyes. “I guess it does. Luckily for you.” Had it been anymore than that quick peck, Daryl wouldn't be in this room right now, touching him. But he trusted the older man; trusted that it didn't mean anything and that he genuinely loved him. So he would forgive it. "You do anything like that again, though I'll kick your ass."

 

Daryl snorted a quiet laugh and rubbed his shoulder. “Sounds fair ta me." He tugged on the man's shirt sleeve gently. "I'm glad ya forgive me. ‘Cause it’s 11:20 on Valentine’s Day an’ I haven’t made love ta ya yet.” Daryl moved smoothly to roll Paul on his back, settling between his legs.

 

Paul couldn’t help but laugh quietly, wrapping his arms around the hunter’s neck. “That so? You’ve got forty minutes, make it count, old man.”

 

Daryl growled quietly, leaning in to capture his lips in a soft but heated kiss, his hands removing and throwing clothes aside like they’d personally offended him until they were both naked and pressed together like two perfect puzzle pieces.

 

It was always so easy, so right when he was with Paul and he still sometimes couldn’t fathom how he’d ended up getting so lucky when he’d met this man.

 

-

 

___Daryl was hunched over the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey in his hand. He’d never..ventured out like this before but with Merle gone back to jail, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. So he’d come to Atlanta’s premiere LGBT club in hopes of seeing if he could connect with somebody. So far it was null and void.__ _

 

 

__

__“Hey, you look awfully lonely over here. Mind if I sit next to you?”_ _

__

__Daryl simply nodded, glancing up when he heard the laugh beside him. It was one of the most beautiful sounds he’d ever heard. It made him sit up straight, and chug down the rest of his drink. When he finally turned to face the man beside him, it took his breath away._ _

__

__The young man had his hair up in a messy bun on the top of his head, his beard neatly trimmed to put his soft but also sharp jawline on display. And those eyes…my god he’d never seen anything like them. When he looked at Daryl curiously, they were one deep shade of green but in the next moment his expression seemed to change to one of amusement, making the color seem…brighter. More like..seafoam. He supposed the eyes really were the window to the soul based on this one man alone._ _

__

__“I’m Paul Rovia. My friends used to call me Jesus.” The stranger-no, Paul-extended his hand to shake. Daryl snorted but took it, a bit thrown off by just how soft it was._ _

__

__“Ain’ callin’ ya Jesus.” That brought another laugh out of him, and Daryl could see now the way his eyes crinkled when he did. The hunter found himself flushing a bit, a small smile twitching at the edge of his lips. “’M Daryl.”_ _

__

___“Well Daryl, what do you say we sit here, have a few drinks and get to know each other, yeah?”___

__

__-_ _

__

It had been one of the most simple meetings, but it had changed his entire life. And now he got the pleasure of being this man’s one and only. It had him deepening the kiss, putting a sort of desperation into it as he grabbed the lubricant out of the bedside drawer and slicked up his fingers.

 

“Fuck, Daryl..” Paul sighed as he felt two of the man’s slick fingers sink in at once. There was an urgency behind the older man now, Paul could feel it but he didn’t question it, simply rocked his hips down. Daryl knew he sometimes enjoyed the slight burn of the stretch.

 

The archer began to work him open, thorough but gentle. In a matter of minutes he had his young lover reduced to a trembling puddle of pure bliss and need and…it was so beautiful it never failed to set off the butterflies in Daryl’s stomach.

 

By the time he felt confident that Paul had been prepped enough, Paul was reaching down himself to slick Daryl’s cock up and help him press inside. As soon as the hunter bottomed out, they both let out quiet groans, just staying like that for a moment.

 

“Need ya so much, Paul. Mean tha fuckin’ world ta me..” Daryl sighed, beginning to rock his hips slowly, hands clutching at Paul’s hips while the younger man’s legs wrapped around his waist.

 

“Need you too, Daryl. Love you so much.” Paul panted out, one hand clutching at the hunter’s hair while the other clung desperately to his shoulder blade, nails digging into the skin enough to leave marks. “Oh __god__ Daryl..feels so good baby.”

 

Daryl whined quietly, spurred on by the man’s praise to angle his hips slightly so he could hit that bundle of nerves that drove his lover crazy. It seemed to work when Paul threw his head back, gasping out the archer’s name in a tone that could only be described as pure pleasure.

 

“Baby..Angel __shit__  I’m already so close..you had me on edge while you prepped me.” he whimpered, grinding down as much as he could to meet Daryl’s thrusts.

 

“S’okay, can’t last long with ya lookin’ this pretty.” Daryl grunted in response, bracing a hand against the headboard.

 

“Oh god..please.. _ _please…__ ” Paul’s voice rose an octave or two, a clear sign that he was right on the edge. Daryl made sure to use his leverage on the headboard so he could add a bit more force to his thrusts.

 

The younger man cried out, slipping a hand down between them to jerk himself in time with the man’s thrusts. It didn’t take him long at all to tumble over the edge with a long, drawn out moan of the man’s name. He spilled over between them, only adding to the slickness of sweat that was already there.

 

Daryl grunted when he felt Paul clenching around him, giving a few more thrusts before he buried himself deep and came, burying his face into his boyfriend’s throat. “Fuck __Paul__ …”

 

They rode it out slowly, before the hunter finally decided to pull out and lay down beside him. Paul looked at the clock, grinning. “One minute to spare…not bad old timer.”

 

“I’ll show you old timer ya little shit.”

 

-

 

Daryl hadn’t let the man sleep at all for the rest of the night. And by the time Paul even woke up it was almost noon. He came downstairs in sweatpants and nothing more, a huge smile splitting his face when he saw that Daryl had gone out hunting that morning and made them rabbit stew for lunch.

 

“Ugh my favorite. You’re the best!” Paul hugged him around his neck, kissing him deeply for a moment before sitting down while Daryl set a bowl in front of him. The archer had a light flush on his cheeks from the affection.

 

“We both know yer tha best out of tha two of us. Smart, funny, sensitive, understanding, calming…beautiful as all hell..and not ta mention everybody likes you. Even my racist, homophobic asshat of a brother likes ya. Yer already a part of tha family..so..” the older man swallowed thickly and dropped down to one knee, taking a small black box out of his pocket.

 

Paul stared down at him, eyes wide and already beginning to tear up. “Angel…”

 

“Paul yer tha best fuckin’ thing that’s ever happened ta me. I don’ ever wanna let ya go. I want ya ta be mine, for tha rest of our lives..” He opened the box quietly, inside sat a simple and thing silver band with a single pink diamond. “Paul Rovia, will ya marry me?”

 

Paul floundered for something to say for a moment before he simply tacked the older man and kissed him hard. Daryl chuckled, bracing them both so the fall didn’t hurt, kissing him back. He slipped the ring onto Paul’s finger clumsily, grinning like a love-sick idiot when Paul pulled away to look at it.

 

“It’s so beautiful..”

 

“That a yes?”

 

“Of course it’s a yes! God I love you, Daryl.”

 

The older man reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face, tucking it behind Paul’s ear gently. “I love ya too, Paul. Now get eating before tha stew gets cold.”

 

Paul had to laugh at that, head thrown back, the sound echoing in their kitchen. Daryl hummed almost inaudibly, rubbing at the man’s thighs gently. Yeah, that was definitely still the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard, and now he got to hear it until the day he died.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought! I'm very proud of this one. :3
> 
> And a quick translation! "Jodido de mierda" - fucking jerk


End file.
